@Keon Shoulars I raise rent to a small extent or larger extent depending on the tenant and market every year. 

How about having a larger advance such as 3 months rather one? 

That is starting to change, and the larger housing developments are starting to move in. 

@Gorden Lopes is absolutely right - your appreciation potential is much higher in Madison proper than Hazel Green, and you'll have a larger pool of renters interested in your house. 

Lower down payment and keep the current as a rental or sell the current property and larger down payment on the new one?

This could include charging a larger deposit or last month's rent or the first three months up front or whatever.

It kind of depends on what your goals are, but you may be able to start consolidating your properties a little more with like-kind exchanges and/or purchasing larger properties where you could do cost-segregations on.

But want to jump into something larger. 

You likely need a much larger volume in lower cost areas to make the same money.  

Thx not sure the returns would work for a larger equity partner.